The world has gone mobile! - Social Live

How do consumers seek information via the web today using mobile devices?
According to Online Publishers Association / Frank N. Magid Associates:

99.5 percent access content/information
63.1 access the Internet
62.1 percent check email
49.2 percent listen to music
46 percent play games
41.7 percent download and use apps
15 percent make purchases
15 percent read a book

Shift to Mobile Impacts B2B Significantly

 If you imagine that the mobile usage is merely a reflection of consumers logging onto social media, checking email or conducting search, or shopping, think again.

Executives lead the way in mobile adoption, validating the theory that digital assets for a business or brand must serve target audiences 24/7, and not just during business hours.

Meeting your customers wherever they work is no longer a luxury – it is a necessity. If you wish to convert interaction to action you must compel the decision-maker.

B2B Decision-Makers Rely on Mobile Devices

Mobile is preferred over the PC for executives conducting research during and after office hours, according to the IDG Global Mobile Survey 2014.

92 percent of executives own a smartphone used for business.
77 percent of executives use their smartphone to research a product or service for their business.
93 percent of executives will purchase that product via the Internet using a laptop or desktop.
86 percent use their tablet and 72 percent of executives use their smartphone to conduct research for products or services for their business.
‪#‎sociallive‬ ‪#‎sociallivellc‬ ‪#‎socialmediatip‬ ‪#‎mobilevsdesktop‬ ‪#‎socialmediatrends‬

Instagram might not be worth the effort for every business - Social Live

It’s important to remember that Instagram might not be worth the effort for every business.

For instance, it’s only the 6th largest social media site, trailing far behind networks like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest. If you have limited time to devote to social media marketing, you’ll have access to more users with the Big Three of social media, and Tumblr.

Instagram is also a largely mobile-based social media network, with most users perusing through photos via a smartphone app.

This means the demographic tends to skew young, making Instagram the perfect choice for a custom skateboard shop but perhaps less useful for a medical supply retailer.

You’ll have to consider your own customer demographic in order to figure out if Instagram is worth the effort.

However, effort can be reduced by linking your online store’s Instagram account to Facebook and Twitter so that any images you post are automatically posted to your other social media accounts. With this in mind, one could make the argument that Instagram is very little effort for the exposure it offers.
‪#‎sociallivellc‬ ‪#‎sociallive‬ ‪#‎instagram‬ ‪#‎socialmedia‬ ‪#‎tipoftheday‬

Hashtags for Social Media Use - Social Live Tips

The next few blogs will be about tips about hashtags, why and how to apply their use. Since the first use in 2007, the hashtag has spread from Twitter to almost all major social media networks, including Facebook, Instagram, Google+, YouTube, and even Vines.

With hashtags showing up everywhere, we wanted to take a look again at how your brand can use hashtags with success, on any kind of social media.

‪#‎WhatDoHashtagsDo

Hashtags have a number of uses, and it’s crucial to understand their purpose. You can use a hashtag to improve searchability, to tap into trends, to create a conversation around your brand, or to inject a bit of humor into your post (or of all of these at the same time!). It depends on your objective.

‪#‎Searchability

It's worth restating: hashtags improve your searchability. On social media networks, where there are reams and reams of information to sift through, users often search for certain hashtags that correspond to their demands and desires. By using a hashtag, you can tap into a popular conversation that is relevant to your brand and become a key contributor to that conversation’s sha­pe and consequences. It’s a whole new way of thinking about categorization, and a great way to give your posts more exposure.

Should my business be on Instagram?

Last few posts we did a series on hashtags and we hope your using the tips. This next few days we will cover ‪#‎instagram‬

What Is Instagram?
...

Instagram is a social media network focused on visual images.
60 Million Photos shared every day.

There are no status updates or 140 character limits, and instead the entire update is one square image (and an optional caption).

Users ‘follow’ other users that they are interested in, and can then scroll through image after image on their newsfeed.

Ideally, you should caption the images that you post on Instagram to give your followers context, such as ‘New product ready to roll out in Autumn 2014! ‪#‎fashion‬ ‪#‎handmade‬’.

The caption helps users understand what they’re looking at, while the hashtags make your post searchable for anyone who is interested in that category.

For example, users interested in ‪#‎PlusSizeFashion‬ can look at only images that contain this hashtag -- if you use it, you’ll show up with thousands of other plus-sized designers and fashion bloggers.
While it was launched in just 2010, Instagram now has around 200 million monthly active users. Today there are over 1 billion on Instagram.

Using Instagram can allow you to show a more casual side of your business -- your products in use, the process of manufacturing them, the pile of boxes to be shipped out during Christmas shopping rush -- and build your brand through a visual story.
‪#‎sociallivellc‬ ‪#‎socialmediatips‬ ‪#‎sociallive‬